Railway signaling apparatus



J. W. KENNEDY.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION HLED SEPT 8,1921.

1,42 l ,252 Patented June 27, 1922.

A TTORNEYS.

JAMES W. KENNEDY, F CANTGN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONEvFOURTH T0 GEORGES. HAGGART AND ONE-FOURTH TO HARRY. C. CONRAD, BOTH 0F CANTON", OHIO.

RAILVIAY SIGNALII\TG"APPARATUS.

Application filed September 8, 1921.

T 0 aZZ 10720172 it may concern:

Be itknown that I, JAMns \V. KENNEDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Canton, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signaling Apparatus; and I do here declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertai-ns to make and use the same.

My invention relates to signaling apparatus for use on railroads, and consists of certain novel and useful improvements in the same, which will be fully disclosed in the specification following, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which my invention is illustrated, and being'moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My present invention may be said to be an improvement in the signaling apparatus, shown and described in my-pen'ding application filed July 13, 1921, in which 1 disclose an apparatus, operated by a device located upon the roof of a moving vehicle, by contacting with depending arms, overhanging the track and pivotally mounted onupright supports.

The object of my present invention is to do away with theoverhanging arms and devices mounted on the roof of a moving vehicle, and to this end I provide operating means for my signaling apparatus, which are located close to the ground, and which are adapted to be moved to a desired position, by a shoe secured to the underside of a moving vehicle, otherwise my signaling apparatus operates in a manner identical with'that set forth in my aforementioned pending application.

'In the drawings,-

Figure 1 represents a railroad track equipped with my improved apparatus,and operable either by a.device located on the roof of a moving vehicle as in my former application, or by a shoe placed upon the underside of said vehicle, as in my present application;

Fig. 2 is'a side view of the pilot and forward portion of a moving vehicle, provided with a shoe upon its underside.

Similar numerals indicate identical parts throughout.

' 1, '2, 8, 4: represent the usual rails, se cured to cross ties of a railroad in the ordi- Specification of Letters Patent- Patented June '27, .1922.

Serial No. 499,296.

nary manner, and it is obvious that these ties may be of wood or concrete, as desired.

Secured toia cross-tieas for example 5, or otherwise held firmly in place are bearings 6 and 7 in which there is rotatably mounted a rod 8 having an upwardly projecting pin 9 adapted-to engage a slot 10 in the sleeve 11, rigidly secured to the longitudinally extending rod 12 slidably mounted in suitable supports 13 secured to the ties.

1 1 is a rod pivotally mounted at one end, as at 15, upon one of the cross ties and being provided at its other end with a downwardly projecting hook portion, adapted to engage a pin 16, projecting from the rod 8. This hook portion may be bifurcated to facilitate its engagement with-the pin, the latter resting in the fork Thelongitudi-nal rod 12 is provided at one end with a sleeve 17 having aslotadapted to be engaged by a pin or loop secured to the transverse rod 18, rotatably mounted in bearings 19 suitably secured in place.

The rod 18, is provided with projecting pins 21 and 22 fora purpose hereinafter described, and at one end thereof, there is rigidly secured a bell crank lever 23 the outer end of which is pivotallysecured to a vertically disposed arm 24- for operating the signaling device, as will be later described.

50 is a rod similar to the rod let, pivotally mounted at one end as at 51 and being provided at its other end with a downwardly extending bifurcated hook p0rtion'52, which engages the pin 21, of the transverse rod 18.

Referring now to Fig. 2, 25 is a shoe preferably constructed of spring metal, and rigidly secured to the underside of a moving vehicle, and a short distance from the inner side of the wheel 26. The shoe 25 is bent downwardly and longitudinally and is provided with an upwardly projecting pin 27, surrounded by a coiled spring 28 which abuts against the underside of the vehicle, and if desired a socket 30 may be provided in the vehicle into which the pinprojects, and loosely operates.

The shoe 25 is bent downwardly a sufiicient distance to come in contact with .the rod 14 for a purpose hereinafter disclosed.

31 represents a longitudinally extending rod pivotally mounted at 32 and provided with abifurcated portion 33 to engage the pin 22, of the-rod 18, the opposite end of said a rod being preferably bent downwardly as shown.

The operation of the apparatus described is apparent. Assuming that no signal is set, a moving vehicle, provided on its underside with my improved shoe, entering the section of track where the signaling devices are located, causes the shoe to come in contact with the pivotally mounted rod 14, and depress the hooked portion, thereby rotating the transverse rod 8, which engaging the sleeve 11 with the pin 9 moves the longitudinally extendingrod 12, thereby rotating the transverse rod 18, and moving the vertical rod24t to set the signal by means of the wires 40 and 41 and the other auxiliary device fully described in my aforementioned Cupending application, and not necessary to describe in detail here.

as the vehicle proceeds, the shoe comes in contact with the rod 50, and sliding upon the same depresses the pin 21 and rotates the rod 18, rocks the arm 23, raises the arm 2a and sets the signal for safety.

It is obvious that as the moving vehicle passes over the rod 50, the pin 22 will be depressed, and the rear end of the rod 31 will be raised.

Under these circumstances, it may be de sirable to back the vehicle and in backing to again set the danger signal. This is accomplished byplacing a second shoe, similar in all respects. to that already described, on the underside of the vehicle and in such position as to contact with the rod 31, when backing, thereby depressing the rear portion of said rod 81. and rotating the rod 18, thus again setting the signaling apparatus to indicate danger, i

Thebacking shoe :isset over nearer the center or": the track. When the first shoe passes over the rod 14 and thereby rotates therod 18, the hook 552 is up and the rod 31 is down. When said shoe comes to the hook 52. it depresses it, and rod 31 is raised, but in the meantime the second shoe has passed over and escaped; the rod 31, and as the other one is down, does not actuate the de vice. i

In backing, the reverse takes place, and as the second shoe reaches the raised portion of rod 551, it depresses the same and resets the danger signal. One of the advantages of my construction is that the shoes are so located and constructed, that it they come in contact with anyobstacle suchas track crossings, switch :l'rogs, boards of highway crossings, or any object projecting above the top of a rail. said shoes will yield to avoid breakage, and immediately and automaticallyresume an operable position.

\Vhile I have described my improved apparatus in detail it is obvious that such detail may be changed, as desired, without departing from the spirit of my invention, so long as such changes come within the scope of the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Apparatus for operating a permanently located semaphore placed at one side of a rail road track, comprising a longitudinally extending slidably mount-ed rod, a plurality of transverse rotatably mounted rods, connected to the longitudinal rod, an operating rod for rotating one of the transverse rods and means mounted on a moving vehicle for actuating the operating rod, and the rods connected therewith.

2. Apparatus for operating a permanently located semaphore, comprising a longitudinally extending slidably mounted rod, a transverse rotatably mounted rod operably connected with the semaphore and with the longitudinally mounted rod, an operating rod pivotally mounted at one end and having its other endin engagement with a part pro jecting from the transverse rotatable rod, 21 second opera-ting rod pivotally mounted at a point approximately midway of its length, means secured to a moving vehicle for actuating theroperating rod when the vehicle is moving forwardly, and other means for actuatingthe second operating arm when the vehicle is moving rearwardly.

3. Apparatus for operating a signaling device, comprising a longitudinally extending slidably mounted rod, a transverse rotatably mounted rod, operably connected with the signaling device and with the longitudinally extending rod, an operating rod pivotally mounted at one end and having its other end in engagement with a part projecting from the transverse rotatable rod, a second operating rod pivotally mounted at a point between its extremities, means secured to a moving vehicle for actuating the operating rod in the forward movement of the vehicle and means for actuating the second operating rod, in the rearward movementof the vehicle, the point of pivoting of the second operating rod, being such that the first named means will clear its operating rod in a rearward movement and the second means will rotate the transverse rod and re-set the signal tor-danger.

4. Apparatus for operating a signaling device, comprising a longitudinally extending rod, slidably mounted in suitable bearings, transverse rods rotatably mounted in bearings, means for connecting the longitudinal and transverse rods, an operating rod for rotating one of the transverse rods and means for actuating the operating rod, said means consisting of a shoe secured to the underside of a moving vehicle, said shoe being made of resilient material, and being adapted to contapit with the pivotally mounted actuating r0 5. A shoe for actuating operating apparatus for a signaling device, said shoe comprising a strip of resilient material rigidly secured t one end to the underside of a moving vehicle, and having its free end bent downwardly and rearwardly, an upwardly extending pin secured to the free end, said pin being adapted to enter an opening in the underside of the vehicle and a spring interposed between the free end of the shoe and the vehicle.

6. Apparatus for operating a signaling device, comprising a longitudinally extending slidably mounted rod, a transverse rotatably mounted rod operably connected with the signaling device and with the longitudinal rod, an operating rod pivotally mounted at one end and having its other end in engagement with a part projecting from the transverse rotatable rod, a second operating rod pivotally mounted at a point approximately midway of its length, and two shoes secured to the underside of a moving vehicle, one of said shoes being adapted to actuate the operating rod when moving downwardly and the other to actuate the second operating arm when moving rearwardly.

7. Apparatus for operating a signaling device, comprising a longitudinally extending slidably mounted rod, a transverse rotatably mounted rod operably connected with the signaling device and with the longitudinally extending rod, an operating rod pivotally mounted at one end and having its other end in engagement with a part projecting from the transverse rotatable rod, a second operating rod pivotally mounted at a point between the extremities, and two shoes secured to the underside of a moving vehicle, one of said shoes being adapted to actuate the operating rod in its forward movement, and the other to actuate the second operating rod in its rearward movement, the point of pivoting of the second operating rod being such that the first-named shoe will clear its operating rod in a rearward movement, and the second shoe will rotate the transverse rod and reset the signal for danger.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JAMES W. KENNEDY. 

